COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Cajuns bury Colonels, 70-7

Published: Saturday, September 14, 2013 at 6:01 a.m.

Last Modified: Saturday, September 14, 2013 at 11:49 p.m.

LAFAYETTE — The FBS killers got killed by the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

Nicholls State University was the darlings of FCS football after beating Western Michigan, a FBS program, last week but on Saturday the Ragin Cajuns made sure a second upset by the Colonels wasn't going to happen.

Louisiana scored on its third play from scrimmage and never trailed in a 70-7 victory at Cajun Field.

Louisiana gained 620 total yards with 28 first downs, while holding the Colonels to 305 total yards and 18 first downs. The Cajuns also set a scoring record at Cajun Field with 70 points and the program won its 500th game overall.

The Cajuns fast start came by way of a 65-yard touchdown run by Alonzo Harris and Colonels coach Charlie Stubbs said his team never recovered from that opening touchdown.

"They took it to us, and they were really hungry with an electric crowd which we anticipated. They also got to play at home for the first time so you can imagine the bounce in their step," Stubbs said. "I think things caught up with us a bit. A lot of it was due to Louisiana-Lafayette, but we were getting beat down a bit. We tried different things and they forced us to throw the ball, and we are not good enough to do that down after down. That is good defense and they put our offense in long-yardage situations and against a team like that is it hard to recover. Things did snowball, but I am teaching the team not to give up, but we are so battered and beaten. We know injuries are part of the game, but it seems when we lose a player we have a significant drop off."

After Harris made it 7-0, Louisiana got a 24-yard touchdown run by quarterback Terrance Broadway for a 14-0 lead before running back Torrey Pierce scored on a 7-yard run for a 21-0 lead with 1:47 left in the first quarter.

The Cajuns next score was off a turnover as linebacker Justin Anderson intercepted a Beaux Hebert pass and returned it 58 yards for the touchdown and a 28-0 lead.

The Colonels couldn't sustain drives in the first quarter, but early in the second quarter Nicholls moved the ball down to Louisiana's 14. However, a pass for negative yards and two incompletions forced the Colonels to try a 36-yard field, but Andrew Dolan's attempt was wide leaving the score 28-0 with 13:57 on the clock. Dolan would also miss a 40-yard field goal in the third quarter.

Down by 28 points, the Colonels had to junk their offensive game plan and that allowed Louisiana's defensive front to apply constant pressure on Hebert and Tuskani Figaro. The Cajuns finished the game with four sacks.

"We just didn't come out and move the ball and that is something you have to do on the road. You want to do that in every game, but this was such a big game playing a FBS opponent we have to move the ball," Hebert said. "When something goes wrong you have to put it behind you. We are not going to start every game the best, so when things don't go right you got to put it behind you and move on. We got to come together as a team and turn it around."

Hebert finished the game 5-of-17 for 56 yards and one interception.

After the teams traded interceptions in the second quarter, Louisiana (1-2 overall) added three more touchdowns.

Pierce made it 35-0 with a 2-yard touchdown run, then former Vandebilt Catholic all-state performer Elijah McGuire scored on runs of 4 and 1 yards to give Louisiana a 49-0 lead with 2:28 left in the second quarter.

The Colonels (1-2) went with Figaro in the second quarter and right before halftime he found wide receiver Demon Bolt on a 36-yard scoring pass. The play ended a 3-play 75-yard drive and made it a 49-7 score at halftime.

Nicholls had five turnovers in the game and on its first play from scrimmage in the third quarter, Bolt fumbled and the Cajuns recovered the ball at the Colonels 42.

The turnover led to a 25-yard touchdown reception by Louisiana's Jamal Robinson for a 56-7 lead with 11:15 in the third quarter.

The touchdown pass ended the night for Broadway as he completed 10-of-13 attempts for 149 yards, a touchdowns and an interception, while rushing for 42 yards and a touchdown on five carries.

Louisiana added to its lead when McGuire broke loose on a 42-yard scoring run dragging would be tacklers into the end zone for a 63-7 lead. McGuire finished the game with 137 yards and three touchdowns on nine carries.

The Cajuns final score came on a 3-yard run by Montrell Carter to make it 70-7 with 14:03 left in the game.

Stubbs said with the three road games out of the way, he is anxious to see his team bounce back and play well at home.

"The biggest thing is UL is an example. They played two road games, and they came in here and bounced back. They fed off their crowd so I will use them as an example," Stubbs said. "They had some tough games but they bounced back at home and we had a tough game and this is what we got to do. We've got to bounce back."

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